Crossbred vs Purebred Lambs

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

I am really impressed with the growth of my Cal Red vs Katahdin crossbred lambs. They are growing like weeds. There might be something to this crossbreeding thing. My Cal Reds are doing well, just not as well as the crossbred lambs.

[wendle]

What are your Cal Reds crossed with?

[Slev]

...well sure, I think the important thing to remember is, when dealing with purebred animals, you are focusing on a "locked-in" set of genetic characteristics, (along with that little sheet of paper that states they are purebred) but along with those "locked-in" genetics, you lose some of the vigor, (I believe it's called.) With out-crossing those genetics, a lot of times you will see increased size, better health, stronger genetics, and vigor. You also get some unpredicted or unforeseen results, something not a good thing. But for the most part, unless you really need a purebred flock, some form of cross breeding program may work better for you.

As for myself, right now we are most concerned with wool, so we are working with purebred Border Leicester's. (We also have a few BL crosses that we like as well.)

To really see how the cross breeding system works, I would recommend looking into Mule sheep. They are a 3 way cross breeding system, and show how great that out crossing program works. I know Wendle on here is working on that program, you can ask her what she thinks.

[Bearfootfarm]

Heterosis is a term used in genetics and selective breeding. The term heterosis, also known as hybrid vigour or outbreeding enhancement, describes the increased strength of different characteristics in hybrids; the possibility to obtain a genetically superior individual by combining the virtues of its parents.
"Heterosis is the opposite of inbreeding depression, which occurs with increasing homozygosity. The term often causes controversy, particularly in terms of the selective breeding of domestic animals, because it is sometimes believed that all crossbred plants or animals are genetically superior to their parents; this is true only in certain circumstances : when a hybrid is seen to be superior to its parents, this is known as hybrid vigor. When the opposite happens, and a hybrid inherits traits from their parents that makes them unfit for survival, the result is referred to as outbreeding depression.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosis

Crossbreeding is an easy way to produce superior animals that can bring out the best traits of both parent breeds.
If done carefully with the BEST offspring bred back to each other, it can produce new breeds.

Thats how the Dorper breed came about. They were originally a cross between a Black Headed Persian ewe and a Horned Dorset Ram